Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider has a lot to say. The singer and composer of such hair-metal classics as "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" has forged several careers for himself in his post-glam phase, including voice-over artist, radio host, TV commentator, filmmaker (the horror movie Strangeland), and coming soon, reality TV star. For the last three years, he's also been back together with his old band mates, playing about 20 shows a year in what Snider refers to as more of a hobby than a career. In advance of a local gig, Snider spouted off on his band, his age and the state of rock 'n' roll nostalgia.
On the possibility of recording new Twisted Sister music:
No, there's no plans, much to the chagrin of some band members. There are, obviously, some of us who are doing better than others. There are people who very much would like to pick up where we left off .... It's just that I see all my peers, and they're re-forming and it's like, "Hey, Dokken for the next millennium!" Like, seriously, dude? ... It's retro, it's oldies. Enjoy it, nothing wrong with it, but recognize it for what it is. Balding, middle-aged guys ain't putting on the denim and leather and following the band again. They're coming out for one show to relive their youth, and half the audience is young kids who were hooked into the '80s nostalgia which is going on right now, so they want to see it one time. But, you know, I went to see the f--kin' Four Seasons when I was in high school, because of the '50s nostalgia, and it doesn't mean I started following Frankie Valli. I bought a greatest-hits album, and that was the end of it.
On the band's carefully crafted stage show:
Oh, we do the full-blown thing, man. And that, I want people to know. You know why they don't know? Is because most of the bands don't do it. Most of the bands come out with a backward baseball hat and baggies and a wallet chain and two of the original members and people going, "Who is that? That's not Ratt! Didn't he used to be attractive?" We say, if you're going to do it, recognize what it is, and give the people what they want: full-on old-school, hair, makeup, costumes, big shoes, shoulder pads .... The joke is, good news, bad news. Bad news is we look like a bunch of aging drag queens, and the good news is we always looked like a bunch of aging drag queens, so nothing's really changed.
On aging gracefully:
I just turned 50. I put the makeup back on for the first time in like 20 years a couple of years ago, and I'm sitting in the master bath of my house, putting it on, going, "What was I f--king thinking? This is crazy!" And when I'm singing the words that I wrote—I'm a happy guy now. The whole process of making it brings you there.
"We're Not Gonna Take It," "I Wanna Rock"—these are all statements of independence. And once I proved my point, I was happier for it and better adjusted for it and content. I have a feeling within myself that's just tremendous, having achieved your life's dreams and proved your point at a relatively young age. I was in my 20s. But I sit there and I'm singing these words and I'm distanced enough from it that I sit there and go, "Oh, man, I was pissed." I look at my words going, "Oh, shit. Oh God, I wanted to kill everybody."
On changing societal values:
It's funny that what was so dangerous in the '80s is now easy listening in the 2000s, but that's the way it's always been. I was watching Ray, and I was amazed to see that they were protesting his shows, calling him the devil. Ray Charles? He's an American icon. But that's the way it's always been. Elvis was dangerous and then he was fat Elvis. The Stones were dangerous and now your grandparents are going to see the Stones. And Twisted Sister, I was on the Filthy Fifteen and I was in Washington fighting for my life [Parents Music Resource Center-Tipper Gore Senate hearings in 1985], and now you can't go to a sporting event without hearing "We're Not Gonna Take It" when your team's down by two. They don't know who wrote it anymore. Now it's just like an American standard. SpongeBob covered "I Wanna Rock" in the movie. I remember saying to Marilyn Manson, I said, "Dude, enjoy your badass status now, because 20 years from now, everybody's going to be going, 'Oh, play that fun "Beautiful People" song.' It'll be a damn Coke commercial."